Former San Francisco Giant Bob Taylor in 1970 (photo from Tony the Tiger Hayes)
Bob Taylor – OF – 1970 – # 31
He Was A Giant?
By Tony the Tiger Hayes
The anonymously named Bob Taylor is the Giants version of the tree that fell in the woods with no one around.
Though Taylor played one full season with San Francisco in 1970, it’s debatable whether anyone remembers him making a sound.
Highlights are illusive, photos are rare and memories are faded. Despite his full campaign with the G-Men, Topps didn’t even bother to issue a baseball card for Taylor.
Maybe the bubble gum card company read the tea leafs.
After hitting .190 in 63 games for the ‘70 club, Taylor would never appear in another MLB game.
Despite winning a pair of minor league hitting titles, Taylor is refreshingly not bitter about not getting a full shot at a big league career.
“How could I complain, when I got to have my locker next to Willie McCovey? When I got to play with and against a bunch of Hall of Famers. Hey, a whole lot of people never had the chance to do what I did,” Taylor told Garry Brown of Springfield (MA) Republican in a 2018 interview “Play in the big leagues, play the game I loved. Live the dreams I had when I was a 6-year-old kid in Dade City, Florida. Playing with my heroes like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Jim Ray Hart, Juan Marichal. You can’t beat that. Majors or minors, I was playing ball. Long bus rides? No problem.”
Why Was He a Giant?
With 40 -year -old Willie Mays looking weary after a subpar 1969 season – the Giants were scrambling for a contingency plan and plucked the 26 -year -old Taylor out the minors as an insurance policy.
Taylor had a great season in 1969, hitting .331 for Triple-A Phoenix. That performance earned him an invitation to the major league training camp in the spring of 1970.
Then he battered Cactus League pitching – earning a spot on the Orange & Black’s opening day roster.
“I’m proud of the fact that I made the opening day roster. I had a real good spring, hit .400. At the time, there were 600 jobs available on major league 25-man rosters, and I had one of them,” Taylor told the Republican.
But after his down ‘69 season, Mays kicked Father Time in the shins and played the ‘70 season with a burst of rejuvenation, producing his best hitting numbers in years.
Bobby Bonds and Ken Henderson rounded out a solid San Francisco outfield, leaving Taylor and fellow reserve Frank Johnson settling for scraps.
Before & After
The diminutive 5-foot-9, 170 pound left-handed batter signed with the Giants organization in 1962. Though he was a high percentage batter in the minors- he won the 1964 California League and 1968 Texas League batting crowns – Taylor apparently did not hit with enough pop to become a serious threat to crack the big league club’s power-laden lineup.
But the contact hitter saw his opportunity in the spring of ‘70 and pounced on it.
“I’ve had to wait eight years to get a chance with the Giants and I just hope I can make it,” Taylor told the San Francisco Examiner that spring. “You know the Giants have a lot of talent and are a tough outfit to break into.”
With outfielders such as Ollie Brown, Jesus Alou, and Dave Marshall having moved on from the Giants – there was a clear need for a backup role player/pinch hitter.
While the Mississippi native could not claim the same awe-inspiring five-tool talents that blossoming star RF Bonds possessed, Taylor publicized his one curious hidden attribute.
His hands, he claimed, were tailor made for Candlestick Park’s chilly climates.
“You know when I was playing in Northwest I always hit really well,” Taylor told the San Francisco Examiner in the spring of ‘70. “My hands sweat a lot in warm weather, but in cold climate I seem to get a better grip on the bat and hit the ball harder.”
Taylor would bat just .220 in limited action at the ‘Stick, but he did sock his only two big league home runs in the park known for stiff winds.
After his lone season in San Francisco, Taylor returned to Triple-A with the Giants before heading to Japan for three campaigns. He closed out his pro career back in the Giants organization in 1977-78.
He Never Had A Bobblehead Day. But…
Taylor made the Giants starting lineup just 14 times in 1970, so most of his impact would have to come off the bench.
In his best game, Taylor led the Giants to a 11-3 Candlestick Park stomping of the Dodgers (5/27/70). Taylor whacked his first MLB HR, a two-run shot to left-center field off Jose Pena, and added two more hits in the victory.
For his first big league long ball, Taylor borrowed a bat belonging to Mays.
Taylor’s only other long ball also came against the hated rivals from the Southland when he ripped a thrilling three-run, pinch hit blast off future Hall of Famer Don Sutton in a mid- summer home contest – giving the Giants the lead in the sixth inning. Unfortunately, the Dodgers would come back to win 8-6. (7/3/70).
Giant Footprint
Though he had no prior professional catching experience, Taylor mysteriously appeared behind the plate as a late inning defensive replacement in a early season game at Atlanta.
Apparently, regular backup Russ Gibson was not available, so Taylor was called on to catch the bottom of the 8th in place of starter Dick Dietz. Pitcher Ron Bryant retired the side in order without any noticeable miscues by Taylor in the 9-3 loss (4/13/70).
After Bryant retired the Braves Sonny Jackson on a pop out and fanned Felix Milan, Taylor peered up from his catcher’s crouch and saw the great Hank Aaron taking a few warm up swings.
The great slugger soon grounded out routinely to third.
“They told me not to call for a fastball against Hank,” said Taylor in ‘19. “But I did anyway, and it worked out.”
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